Rock on

Editor's note: The recent post on the passing of Bo Diddley reminded me of a different post I'd been meaning to write for a while.

Back in March, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had their annual induction ceremony for a new crop of members. Part of why it took me 3 months to get around to mentioning it was that the list of new inductees left me feeling sort of, ehh.

I'm happy for the Dave Clark Five, a highly underrated band from the 60s. Same goes for the Ventures; the Hawaii Five-0 theme song alone probably earned them a spot. After that, though, John Mellencamp is ok, and I don't really have much of an opinion about Leonard Cohen or Gamble & Huff (songwriters/producers of the 1960s and 70s). My dislike of Madonna, however, knows no bounds, and pretty much eclipsed all of the other, more deserving candidates.

Then, I noticed the last name on the list: "Little Walter" Jacobs (1930-1968), the greatest blues harmonica player of all time. Nobody but semi-recovering blues fans like me has ever even heard of Little Walter, but he was amazing. The Essential Little Walter is probably my favorite album of all time. You know the stereotypical blues riff, the one that absolutely everyone in the world knows? Da DAAAAAA da dum? Guess who made it famous? OK, Muddy Waters made it famous. But who was the harp player for the Muddy Waters Band who actually played it? You guessed it. Little Walter.

You've probably caught on to the fact that I'm a fan of this guy. Let me demonstrate why.

This is "Wild about You Baby", featuring Little Walter with Hound Dog Taylor (who was awesome in his own right, and not just because of his name). It was recorded in 1967, the year before Walter died of injuries he suffered in a bar fight. (Great musicians are not necessarily nice people.)



And here, although they won't let me embed it, is a link to Little Walter's induction to the Hall of Fame.